Rescue operation: AP to send special team to Nepal for Kailash Mansarover pilgrims

 Amaravati: AP Government is sending a Special Team to Nepal to rescue the stranded Telugu pilgrims at Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, under Mr. P. Ravi Shankar, Officer on Special Duty.

Dr Arja Srikanth, Additional Commissioner at AP Bhavan, New Delhi informed that the Special Team will leave from AP Bhavan on Wednesday.

The team will land at Nepalgunj, also spelled Nepalganj, is a Sub-Metropolitan City in Banke District, Nepal.

As the Nepal government established base camp for stranded pilgrims at Nepalganj, state government is also deploying the Special Team here.

This team will help the stranded pilgrims in safe return to their homes as well as handover the deceased pilgrims’ bodies to their kith and kin in the State. 

The Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu held an emergency meeting on the Nepal tragedy on Tuesday through Real Time Governance and directed concerned officials to initiate necessary action to help the victims belonging to the State.

Srikanth explained that the post-mortem for the deceased Grandhi Subbarao is arranged at Nepalganj.

First flight from Nepalganj to Simikot in Nepal took off before noon. That would land at Simikot at around 2 pm, he informed.

Another helicopter from Hilsar to Similkot was not take off, since the weather was not supporting for it’s journey.

The AP Government is in continuous contact with the Indian Embassy in Nepal.

Meanwhile, the Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said that there are about 1575 Indian pilgrims stranded in Nepal. She tweeted on Tuesday that, “Indian pilgrims stranded in Nepal - There are about 525 pilgrims stranded in Simikot, 550 in Hilsa and another 500 in Tibet side.”

According to the preliminary information available with the State government, there are about one hundred pilgrims are there in the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, due to inclement weather.